Déjà Orange And Blue

Isles have found a new winning formula

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Good Morning, Islanders Country.

“It’s a weird season, I won’t lie,” Patrick Roy said before last night’s game. He was talking about the team's injuries and illnesses, but the season has been weird, strange, and unpredictable in so many more ways.

The Isles earned consecutive multi-goal, third-period comeback wins for the fourth time in franchise history and tied the Red Wings (Detroit has played 6,875 games to the Isles' 4,101.) for the most in NHL history - and they did it in almost the exact same way.

Trailing the Penguins 2-0 after two periods, the Islanders scored three times to take the lead and sealed the win on a Simon Holmstrom empty net goal, just as they did on Sunday night against the Florida Panthers.

I often have internal dialogues when watching games. On Sunday night, I considered how far this team could fall in the standings. Last night, I pondered how they could squander the momentum from that stunning win. Now, for the first time in weeks, I sincerely think this team can make the playoffs.

For their sake, I hope my inner musings are justified this time. They were supposed to be dead; the season was over. They told us they believed they could still be a playoff team, and now it’s hard to argue against that.

In the last two games, they’ve done to their opponents what was too often done to them. This new winning formula may not be sustainable, but the confidence that it’s creating can be, and that’s what gives them as good a chance as anybody.